This invention relates to containers, and more particularly to containers that can serve as furniture.
Containers are is characterized by having a movable member that allows access to an interior compartment for storage. Some containers have a slab-like top that can be opened. When such a container is closed, the slab-like top can be used to support objects that are removed when the container is to be opened.
Some containers with slab-like tops are supported by legs, and form container tables. Various kinds of container tables have been developed for many different uses. Examples include breakfast, bedside and card container tables; coffee, console, concertina (folding), dining, dressing, library (writing), side (dessert), sofa (lamp) and tea container tables.
When the legs of such tables are removed, they serve as storage chests.
Small, rudimentary containers, constructed of metal or wood, were known to the earliest recorded civilization of the Sumerians in the area of what is now know as Iraq. The culture of the Sumerians passed to the Babylonians and then to the Assyrians. Subsequently the Egyptians were exposed to this culture and produced small containers of fine workmanship with graceful designs and slab-like tops.
The Greeks inherited the Egyptian civilization and developed further forms of containers with slab-like tops. The supporting structure for the slab-like tops was architectural in character and of considerable variety, beautifully proportioned and fashioned from marble, metals, and inlaid woods. These materials were frequently decorated with relief carvings and paintings with ornamental motifs borrowed from architectural forms.
The Romans next brought container construction to an even greater degree of development in marble and metals, as shown by examples found at excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum. In addition to simple containers entirely of metal or wood, there are ornamented examples that are delicately carved and inlaid with ivory and precious metals. Where the containers are provided with legs, they are formed with sphinxes, wings of griffins, fluted columns, or carved to resemble the legs of rams or lions.
Since it was the Roman custom to recline at dining, rather than sit in Greek fashion, many Roman tables also served as containers, with a low height. But because of their expense, tables in ancient times were owned only by the rich.
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance containers became primitive, although there were circular, oval, and oblong examples. Generally, the containers has flat-board tops covered with a tablecloths that could extend to the floor.
Virtually all containers of the Gothic period were of oak, massive in proportions and sturdily built. Their ornamentation was almost entirely of small-scale carved architectural motifs, such as tracery, pointed arches, and finials on sides supporting slab-like tops.
During the Italian Renaissance containers were made in all sizes, generally in rectangular form, with flat tops made of single planks of walnut. Small containers frequently had flat, hexagonal and octagonal tops.
In Spain, containers between 1500 to 1650 were of Italian design, with tops having plain, square-cut edges.
In the 16th century some containers became jointed or framed together as permanent items of furniture, and were known as xe2x80x9cjoynedxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cframedxe2x80x9d containers, generally of oak.
Elizabethan containers in England had the merit of extreme solidity. Storage containers were strongly constructed of stout timbers and slabs of oak joined with wooden pegs. Nails were not used to avoid corrosion from rust. The style remained unchanged for a century boards joined to form flat, slab-like tops.
By the Restoration in England in 1660, the small walnut storage container had developed into forms of varying sizes and shapes, including those with a hinged top.
From the 17th to 19th Centuries, beginning during the reign of Louis XIV from 1643-1715, French taste became the standard of excellence in Europe. Containers with flat marble tops were extravagantly gilded, inlaid with tortoise shell, metals, and rare woods. In England, containers in solid silver were produced during the reign of Charles II from 1660-1685, and for Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV.
Mahogany came into general use during the 18th century, and a wide variety of xe2x80x9coccasionalxe2x80x9d storage tables were developed for such refinements in living as tea drinking and gaming. Examples include the card table, tea table and bedside table, as free adaptations of earlier models in walnut.
In addition there were two types of dressing table for storage: the poudreuse, at which the hair was powdered, and the coiffeuse, at which the hair was dressed. Both the poudreuse and coiffeuse had hinged flat tops with a mirror fitted beneath, but in the coiffeuse the mirror was flanked with containers for various cosmetics.
As the 18th century proceeded, dressing tables grew increasingly elaborate, being fitted with bookrests, for letter writing, for use in bed and even for use in dining. In England, the master furniture maker, Thomas Chippendale (about 1718 to 1779), introduced tea tables with open fretwork galleries and designs taken from Gothic and Chinese sources. Near the end of the 18th century designs in mahogany were superseded by the highly elaborate designs of George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton in satinwood and rosewood. Their designs had flat, marble tops.
In the 19th century mahogany tables developed in England in Regency style, and in France in Empire style had turning legs and brass mountings, as precursors of the later Victorian and Restoration styles.
In the 20th century table storage furniture continues to be characterized by having a flat, slab-like top. Various kinds of storage containers and storage tables have been developed for different uses.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to increase the facility with which containers and storage table can be used, while provide both novel aesthetic appeal and utility.
Another object of the invention is to achieve a new style of container furniture which is easy and economical to manufacture.
A further object of the invention is to present a novel style in containers generally and container furniture in particular.
In accomplishing the foregoing and related objects, the invention provides a container formed by a base member having an interior that is capable of storing items and a top member that is capable of supporting objects that are exterior to the container, with the top member being slidable with respect to the base member, without disturbance to any objects supported thereon. The slide movement of the top member exposes the interior thereof and allow access thereto.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the container has a base member that is proportioned to slidably receive the top member, and includes opposing walls which are adapted to slidably receive the top member.
The base member can be a quadrilateral with opposed walls, and the top member is slidably receivable within grooves of the opposed walls. A support can adjoin each of the grooves for supporting the top member. The support can include rollers for promoting the slidable movement of the top member.
The top member can be a unitary or composite structure and be formed from a plurality of separate sections, which can be oppositely slidable to expose the interior of the base member.
In a method of the invention for fabricating a container having an exterior and interior storage capability, the steps include (a) providing a base for the interior storage of items; and (b) slidably affixing to the base a support member for the exterior storage of items; whereby access to interior storage can be made by slidably moving the support member without disturbing any items supported thereby.
The method can include the step of fabricating a container wherein the base member is a quadrilateral with pairs of opposing walls, and the support member is planar and slidably receivable by the quadrilateral, which includes wall supports for said planar support member.
The quadrilateral can include wall-mounted rollers to facilitate the slidable movement of the support member.
In a method of the invention for storing items interiorly and exteriorly, the steps include (a) placing items for storage within a container; and (b) placing other items upon a slidable cover of the container; whereby there can be access to the interior of the container without disturbance to the other items by the slidable movement of the cover.
The other items can be positioned on a planar top member that serves as a slidable cover for the container, which can have quadrilateral walls by which the cover is slidably received.
In the method of of the invention for storing items, the cover can serve as the complete closure for the container, which can include rollers to facilitate the movement thereof from one position to another.
The slidable cover can have a plurality of sections which are slidably moveable away from one another to expose the interior of the container.